OT changes for troopers vetoed

Gov. Haley Barbour has vetoed parts of the overall $6 billion budget, including two provisions in a bill dealing with overtime pay for state troopers.

Barbour said he doesn’t want to restrict the efficiency of the Department of Public Safety by mandating the way overtime and compensatory time are handled.

Also vetoed: Provisions in two bills that would pay for special sessions by taking $500,000 from the sale of NASCAR vanity license plates; plans to take from state reserves to give $7 million to community mental health centers and $100,000 to the Mississippi Technology Alliance; a plan to take $2 million from the Department of Finance and Administration to give to the Gaming Commission.